Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Baby Blue Cuff Links


image from abstractartpictureswallpaper.blogs


Baby Blue Cuff Links

“Whales, that mew & caw in ultramarine jazz--
oceanic rhapsody in blue, are hunted to the
edge of silence.”--Jay Griffiths.

I just perched myself on a slate blue metal folding
        chair adjacent to a Greek fruit stand
        in Seattle’s Public Market, & decided,
                  as a lark, to identify the dozens of blues
                  that I could see from that vantage point.

         A shapely redhead wiggled by in a pair
         of stonewashed faded blue jeans, torn
artfully at the knees & thighs, sporting little palatine--
blue heart tattoos on her knees. She looked
     over at me with her iridescent iceberg-blue eyes,
         as the sun shone on her ginger-blond hair, & she
             smiled a sultry greeting through perfect white teeth.
         She wore a short tattered tee shirt that was tie-dyed
      periwinkle & spindrift purple, slashed with Cambridge
teal sinuous lines, with a bare midriff
and no bra, a cobalt blue & red scarf
pinned into her long curly tresses, a
topaz barrette clipped in one side.

                            Across the aisle was a retro-record shop.
                            decorated with bluish album covers:
            Joni Mitchell Blue,
            Weezer’s The Blue Album,
            Blue Trane,
            a couple Blue Man’s Group,
            Massive Attack’s Blue Lines,
            Lou Reed’s The Blue Mask,
            Electric President’s The Violent Blue,
            Hooverphone’s Blue Wonder Power Milk,
            & Hats’ Blue Nile.

                              Across the street there was an Armed
                              Services Recruitment Center, festooned
                          with Air Force, Navy, Army, & Coast Guard
                          blue banners, flapping a blue streak in the
                     Mariner’s blue town breeze, with red-white-&
                     blue posters of Naval vessels cruising through
              gray-blue ocean waves, blue steel fighter jets flying
              in electric-blue skies, with orange & white Coast 
Guard cutters anchored in azure blue
tropical bays, over several mannequins
at attention, costumed in dress blue
starched uniforms, with Columbia blue
stripes on the legs, & gold brocade lapels--
one wearing a blue-chrome ceremonial
saber.

I don’t have the blues;
not today, at least, but then
tomorrow’s not here.

Glenn Buttkus

Posted over at dVerse Poets Pub

                      

17 comments:

Shawna said...

I love her!

"A shapely redhead wiggled by in a pair
of stonewashed faded blue jeans, torn
artfully at the knees & thighs, sporting little palatine--
blue heart tattoos on her knees. She looked
over at me with her iridescent iceberg-blue eyes,
as the sun shone on her ginger-blond hair, & she
smiled a sultry greeting through perfect white teeth.
She wore a short tattered tee shirt that was tie-dyed
periwinkle & spindrift purple, slashed with Cambridge
teal sinuous lines, with a bare midriff
and no bra, a cobalt blue & red scarf
pinned into her long curly tresses, a
topaz barrette clipped in one side."


That's my favorite section, of course. But also the record store section that follows. Your shaping is always so engaging.

De Jackson said...

Glenn, I LOVE this. A vision in blue, indeed. I adore your quote, as kickoff. And all those luscious blues, and the way you've described them. Wonderful!

Sanaa Rizvi said...

'I don’t have the blues; not today, at least, but then tomorrow’s not here'

Sigh.. somehow this one tugs and pulls at my heart!

Victoria said...

This is wonderful, reminding me of advice I got from the tons of books I devoured when I began writing fiction a dozen years ago. "They" said, "Go someplace public and just write what you observe, using as many senses as you can." You make me want to get out and do that again. You just immersed me in the scene.

Susan Anderson said...

Quite a vivid picture you painted here. Enjoyed it thoroughly.

=)

Grace said...

I love the quote and how you described the scenes of blue - from the redhead, to the retro shop and the recruitment center. Love the blue heart tattoos, iceberg blue eyes and electric blues. No blues today Glenn!

Waltermarks said...

You're singing the blues. "Joni Mitchell Blue,
Weezer’s The Blue Album,
Blue Trane,
a couple Blue Man’s Group,
Massive Attack’s Blue Lines,
Lou Reed’s The Blue Mask,
Electric President’s The Violent Blue,
Hooverphone’s Blue Wonder Power Milk,
& Hats’ Blue Nile.
But certainly not in the first line. Thanks, Glenn

Truedessa said...

Ah, you have captured many shades of blue. I found myself wanting to visit that retro record shop to search for the perfect blue song to sing to my heart.

Gayle Walters Rose said...

I enjoyed your senses-filled observations of blue, Glenn, especially that curvaceous redhead! This was fun to read and picture in my mind.

Maria said...

"but then tomorrow’s not here..."

~Gaah! I'd say, carpe diem. ;)

lillianthehomepoet.wordpress.com said...

As always, enamored with your writing, Glenn! Where do you find all these wonderful quotations that begin your poems? Truly, where do you find them? They always bring the reader in -- offer a pause to think just before delving into your writing.
I've been to Pike's Place in Seattle -- what a great way to write the poem and you've given us such impeccable description here! And so many many shades of blues. I can see your eyes twinkling as you sit jotting down all these myriad shades of blue on myriad folks and objects :) Hmmmm....I'm thinking of one more! That blue stripe down the back of one of those fish they fling :)
Well done. Love it!

AnotherFearlessYear.net said...

I thought for sure you were going to get stuck in that second stanza and forget to keep counting elsewhere! ;) Love your haiku at the end. It's perfect all on its own.

tonispencer said...

All these visions of blue. You immersed yourself in a crowd and I immersed myself in history. So very much blue in this world! Makes me want to go to a crowded place in our small city and just look - almost. The senryu at the end is marvelous. It stands alone beautifully.

ayala said...

Love the blue hearts...great images..and I hope you are never blue.

Haddock said...

blue posters of Naval vessels cruising through.... that must be a wonderful sight.

Walt Wojtanik said...

Ah Glenn, you distracted me with the shapely redhead! I had to go back and read it again! Wonderful poem both times!

brudberg said...

Oh I do love that haiku at the end.. a perfect round-off...